The astral dimension is a plane interweaved with the physical one. In fact, pretty much all mystical knowledge along with quantum physics say that there is no real separation in all of reality. The separation is only due to an existential state of being we find ourselves into and this conditions our perceptions. It is our perceptions that create our experience of reality.
Manifesting thoughts : Once out of body, you should perceive more and/or different phenomena than what the 5 senses are usually able to identify. It is a state where your beliefs are highly potent to manifest whatever you hold within yourself. This is because you are now interacting with an environment much less dense and more immediately responsive than the physical one. There is much wonder and mystery to this state and the discoveries you can make are indeed limitless.
A tip from Carlos Castaneda : The big challenge as soon as you find yourself out of the body is to focus and stabilize your presence in this state. It takes practice to be able to maneuver yourself around with precision. Carlso Casteneda used this technique to stabilize himself: he would get into the habit of immediately raising his out of body hands and look at them until they came into perfect focus. This action allowed his consciousness to stabilize itself in the astral state by narrowing his focus. This kind of technique can be used whenever you feel your focus to be diminishing or drifting.
Unpleasant encounters? Not all encounters may be pleasant, but simply remember that you are safe, that you have power and that your energy will hold its integrity if faced with questionable phenomena. This being said, I have never experienced anything seriously dangerous during out of body experiences or other non-physical states. The balance has been overwhelmingly positive. Simply call upon beneficial energy if you feel threatened. In any case, when something frightening occurs, you are most likely to instantly come back to your body and wake up.
Do not spend a second worrying about not being able to come back to your body. This happens naturally and automatically. It will be much more challenging to remain out of the body than to come back to it. The bond between your physical body and your consciousness is extremely strong.
Enjoying the mystery : I make no claim to be able to dissect the astral plane and tell you exactly what it is and all that it involves. What I can tell you is that I revel in bathing in it and every time I come back from it I feel invigorated and my sense of purpose is replenished. I don’t care very much about all the pseudo gurus who claim to have a map of the astral world. Even if it were true, I am still much more motivated to investigate things for myself.
